Reading: Deuteronomy 15-16, Psalm 58

One of the more divisive matters in human society is what to do with “the poor.” I live in the Portland, Oregon area, and the question of how to deal with the homeless and transient population occupies a great deal of the public discourse in my home city. This is not a new problem. Human society has always had those who, for a variety of reasons, were not able to maintain a standard of living. In most of human history, the problem was much more widespread. Poverty in the United States today is largely dysfunctional poverty- mental illness, addictions, and trauma are at the root of much of financial poverty. In the past, this was not the case. Functional people often fell into what amounts to bad luck, and there were few opportunities to deal with the consequences. In many societies in the ancient world, the last solution for someone in these situations was to sell themselves into slave labor.

Another incredibly divisive issue in human society is what to do with the rich. I won’t try to get into all the complex issues of wealth in the modern world here, but at a baseline we all kind of know there are those with more than they could ever need. These are also not a new category. In the past, these were a smaller group than today, and the total amount of wealth was significantly smaller. Still, there have been societal questions about the responsibility of the rich for as long as there have been human societies.

What does all this have to do with the people of Israel and what we are reading today? A great deal, I believe. Remember, Israel was about to build a new society in a new land. At this point they are one people. They have been travelling around the wilderness for an entire generation, and they had a shared experience. Once they are settled in Canaan, things will change. Moses reminds them again here that if they are wholly obedient to God’s laws, there will be no poor among them. But then he immediately gives them applied case law for what to do when they do have poor among them. Moses, and God, are under no illusion that the people will be disobedient and that there will be poor. Once the people settle in the land, the society will follow the way of all humans and stratify into categories like rich and poor.

So how are the people of Israel to deal with the always divisive issues of the rich and the poor? Moses repeats things from the Levitical law that will help them understand. First, the sabbath year, every seventh year, will include the forgiveness of debt. Think about that for a minute. How much institutional, generational wealth could become a social problem if all debts automatically cancelled every seven years? Israelite society was built to prevent extremes of wealth and poverty. Second, those with the means are to lend to the poor when they need it regardless of how far away the seventh year is. Third, if a person becomes so destitute they have to sell themselves into servitude- which by definition will be to one of the rich, as only they have the means- they will only serve six years and then be free. This sort of arrangement is not unheard of in the ancient world. Term servitude has been around a long time, and survived well into the modern era with indentures and similar things. What is significantly less common is the provision that at the end of their six year period, the freed person is to be given the means to survive out of the wealth of their master. There is also a provision for someone who enjoys their employment with the family, even as a slave, to remain.

Once they are living in the land of Canaan, there is a real possibility of Israel splintering into an upper and lower class. God’s social laws here will prevent the extremes. Even land returns to it’s ancestral owner every fifty years in the year of Jubilee. God is setting up a society in which the ups and downs of life are acknowledged, but a regular reset button keeps things from getting too far out of hand. Note that God is not setting up a society in which wealth or poverty are impossible. Both can happen, but neither will be permanent.

Then Moses reminds the people again of the feasts: Passover, the feast at the beginning of the harvest, and the week long national camp out at the end of the harvest season. These are for everyone, and everyone contributes to the feast according to their means. The feasts remind Israel they are family, that they serve one God, and that they were once slaves in the land of Egypt.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there are rules about justice. Another of the apparently universal truths of human society is that justice systems favor the rich. In the ancient world this was accepted and institutionalized. Bribes, pay offs for crimes, selling the position of judge- there were numerous ways, and in general they were not just winked at, but fully embraced. God is having none of it. The people of Israel are to have appointed judges who refuse bribes or pay offs. Who pursue the cause of justice. Everyone is subject to the same laws and the same consequences in the nation of Israel.

Israel will deal with the rich and the poor. These aren’t new problems. But God has put in place reminders that these are not defining characteristics. They will not persist beyond certain limits. The people of Israel are chosen by God for his purpose of fulfilling his promise to Abraham. That will define them, not their social standing or financial resources.